2025 Fall Birding Report

On Saturday, September 27th, 2025, 24 pairs of eyes scoured the skies along the Provo River Delta as the Bean Museum Birding Nature Experienceship attendees embarked on their journey. Our group recorded a total of 34 bird species encountered as they traversed the path, listening to birdsong and spotting species with the assistance of binoculars and spotting scopes. We extend our thanks to the more reclusive birds for making an appearance and to Keeli Marvel from the Utah County Birders for joining us and being our expert guide.

Here is the full list of the 34 bird species spotted or heard:

• Mallard (7)

• California quail (2) (Heard only)

• Eurasian collared-dove (1)

• Mourning dove (6)

• Common nighthawk (3) 

• American coot (13)

• Sandhill crane (2)

• American avocet (3)

• Killdeer (23)

• Franklin’s gull (4)

• Caspian tern (2)

• Western grebe (2)

• Clark’s grebe (4)

• Double-crested cormorant (3) 

• Snowy egret (1)

• American white pelican (1) 

• Northern flicker (3)

• American kestrel (1)

• Black phoebe (1) 

• Black-capped chickadee (4) 

• Tree swallow (5) 

• Barn swallow (20) 

• Ruby-crowned kinglet (1) 

• Bewick’s wren (1)

• European starling (100) 

• American robin (2)

• House sparrow (3) 

• American goldfinch (20)

• White-crowned sparrow (7) 

• Song sparrow (3) 

• Red-winged blackbird (8) 

• Brewer’s blackbird (5) 

• Orange-crowned warbler (1) 

• Yellow-rumped warbler (9)

Common nighthawk

Birder using a spotting scope to get a closer look.

Northern flicker

All of the Birding Experienceship attendees on River Lane.

Picture credit: Katy Knight, Tasia Smith

Tasia Smith, museum educator

2025 Fall Insect Nature Experienceship Report

On Saturday, September 13, 2025, participants of this year’s insect experienceship had an un-”bee”-lievably fun time. Patrons began the day with a private tour of the Bean Museum’s entomology collection led by none other than Dr. Shawn Clark, manager of our entomology collection and insect extraordinare. After the tour, patrons loaded into museum vans and rode up Provo Canyon to Big Springs Park, on the way receiving some pretty “fly” stories from Dr. Clark all about insects. By this point, patrons were pretty “antsy” to catch some bugs! At Big Springs, the patrons learned all about different catching techniques, then everyone split up to catch some insects. Dr. Clark observed and gave tips about different species while participants caught their insects. At the end of the trip, Dr. Clark taught everyone about preserving and mounting their new specimens before everyone drove back to the museum. “Snailed” it!

Audrey, student educator

2025 Biology Bootcamp Report

This summer at the Bean Museum, kids have bean having so much fun at summer camps! In July, the Bean Life Science Museum hosted Biology Bootcamp, a week-long day camp for children ages 7 to 11. The camp consisted of five days, each with a theme modeled after different ecosystems throughout the world. 

Monday focused on the marine ecosystem as children learned about how different marine life swim, eat, and survive in deep ocean environments. The children had the opportunity to watch a fish dissection, create a clay shark, and use their imagination and observation skills as they hopped on a pretend submarine to enter a journey to the hadal zone. 

Tuesday’s theme was savanna safari. On this day, the children learned about mammals in the savanna as they participated in games and crafts focused on how mammals survive in a savanna ecosystem. The biggest hit was a popular outdoor game called survival of the fittest, where the children split into animal teams and tried their best to survive in the wild by gathering food and water while avoiding potential poachers and disease. 

Wednesday was jungle day. Children had the opportunity to explore the museum with a scavenger hunt, visit BYU’s duck pond, learn how to dance like a bird of paradise, and even got a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum’s wet collection. The day ended with a craft and fun rock-paper-scissors game, making Wednesday a big hit.

Thursday was an exciting day for the kids as the campers field tripped to the local Provo River Delta to learn about wetlands. On this day, the children had the opportunity to kayak in the wetland ecosystem at the delta and received hands-on experience as they learned to record observations in a field journal like real wetland scientists. 

The week’s finale was a field trip to Utah’s Hogle Zoo, giving the kids the chance to see all the animals they had learned about throughout the week in real life. Biology Bootcamp was a huge hit, and the museum cannot wait to host more summer camps like it next year!

Audrey Gordon, Student Educator

2025 Kayak Camp Report

This summer, the Bean Museum tried something new. Armed with a brand new flotilla of kayaks, we were excited to host the first ever Kayak Camp! In this exciting new summer camp, participants got to have a hands-on experience learning about wetlands and the wonderful creatures that live there.

On the first day of camp, we spent the morning at the museum, learning all about wetlands in preparation for our expedition. The campers learned about the unique history of the Provo River Delta, invented a new wetland organism with a unique life cycle, and even got to try their hand at building beaver dams. After lunch, armed with all this new information, we headed to the Delta to get out on the water for the first time. Whether or not they’d kayaked before, by the end of the day everyone was feeling confident on the water and ready for the adventures of day 2!

The second day of camp we spent the whole day out at the Provo River Delta. For half of the day, campers explored the Delta on foot. We used binoculars to spot birds like red-tailed hawks, ibises, ducklings, and many more. We also climbed a lookout tower, wrote in field journals, and went on a treasure hunt. For the other half of the day, campers went on a special kayaking expedition to a secret island with a picnic table. We enjoyed snacks, and also enjoyed getting a close up look at a bald eagle nest and the beautiful bald eagles that live there. 

Bald Eagles

Osprey

Western Kingbird

By the end of Kayak Camp, participants knew about all kinds of new plants and animals, had a new confidence on the water, and a new determination to protect our wetland ecosystems.

Leah, museum educator

2025 Easter Family Night Report

Spring has sprung here at the Bean Life Science museum, and we had a great opportunity to celebrate life, new beginnings, springtime, and our Savior last Monday at our Easter Family Night.

Hundreds of museum guests, young and old, were able to enjoy activities throughout the museum. At our curiosity carts, guests could get up close and personal with animal specimens, and even play a game matching real eggs to the animals that laid them. Guests also had the opportunity to take photos at an Easter photo booth, and do a fun flower craft!

The highlight of the evening was the easter egg scavenger hunt. Using a bingo card, guests searched high and low throughout the museum for paper easter eggs with different patterns on them. By matching up the patterns, they could get a bingo, and earn a chance to spin the prize wheel for pencils, animal toys, and museum tote bags. We are so glad that so many people were able to enjoy Easter Family Night!

Leah, museum educator

2025 Murder Mystery Dinner Party

“Attention guests: as you may have noticed, there has been a death on the premises.”

“Can’t we ever have one semester without a murder in this place?”

… Apparently not. At the Bean Museum’s 1920’s themed Murder Mystery Dinner Night this semester, the renowned singer, Mary Swan, was poisoned as she took the stage at the end of a delightful dinner. Through a sequence of tasks, riddles, interrogation, and evasion, teams of guests sought to convict the correct culprit. 

As they raced to solve the case, guests encountered the themed characters of Doctor Lily Leeches, bartender Jack “the Fix” O’Hare, flapper Frances Fox, oil tycoon Buck Pinchpenny, chauffeur Willie “the Wheel” Weaselton, Mary’s agent and personal assistant Ruby Rottweiler, Mary’s jealous sister Wanda Swan, and the duo of detectives.

In addition to riddles obtained from each of the characters, tasks involved mathematical logic puzzles, microscopes, unkeyed maps, ciphers, monochrome jigsaw puzzles, braille, and even buckets full of ping pong balls. You simply had to be there.

The thrilling rush of teamwork and competition- not to mention mocktails, a catered dinner, and cake- we think it’s safe to say the evening was enjoyed by all. And we hope you look forward to joining us for next semester’s Mystery Dinner Night, too, because who knows what it might hold?

Suzy, museum educator

2025 Night at the Museums Report

Although no animals came to life, the museum definitely did during BYU's annual Night at the Museums event! On Friday, March 14, thousands of people attempted to visit all five of BYU's museums on campus, solving clues to earn a sticker from each museum in order to win the grand prize: a museum tote bag! While all the museums had fun activities that night, the Bean Life Science Museum surely was not one to miss.

Guests had so much fun as they not only searched for answers to their clues but also enjoyed the fun and educational activities scattered throughout the museum!

 

Curiosity carts lined the hallways, where guests learned fascinating facts about our bird specimens from educators and even got a chance to have hands-on experiences with some of them.

We had a photo booth with props that was an absolute delight for taking pictures with family and friends.

You're never too old for balloon animals, and our educators made plenty for guests of all ages. Even when they occasionally popped, our visitors still thought they were a blast!

Emma, museum educator